As you can see, the rules governing how to report speech can vary based on the tense of the original statement. Generally, you can’t go wrong if you follow these guidelines (from the original statement to reported speech): Simple Present -> Simple Past Present Continuous -> Past Continuous Present Perfect -> Past Perfect
If the reporting verb (first part) of the sentence is in present or future tense, the tense of the reported speech is not changed while converting direct speech ...
Practise reported speech - clear explanations and lots of exercises. ... But, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses ...
REPORTED SPEECH TENSE CONVERSION RULES Direct Speech Reported Speech “I want a holiday” (Present Simple) She told me she wanted a holiday (Past Simple) “Bob is annoying me” (Present Continuous) Jane said Bob was annoying her (Past Continuous) “I have eaten too much” (Present Perfect) He said he had eaten too much (Past Perfect)
23.12.2020 · Rules for Change in Tenses The tense of the reported speech is not changed if the reporting verb is in the present or the future tense. If a historical fact, a universal reality or a habitual fact is conveyed in a direct speech. The indirect speech tense will not change.
Reported speech tenses may differ from the tense of the direct speech. The general rule for tenses in reported speech is that it changes to the past tense.